Courtesy artsBHAM
Like many opera devotees, Keith Wolfe has spent a good portion of his life grappling with the notion that opera is stodgy and boring.
To attract bigger audiences to the art form, the Opera Birmingham general director has come up with an innovative idea: Take the arias, choruses and ensembles from their theatrical settings and introduce them to a new public in a relaxed setting — specifically, taverns, bars and breweries.
The result? Opera Shots, a series of pop-up concerts during which opera performers replace the jazz singers, songwriters and bands that customarily inhabit these spaces. Opera Shots is catching on — at popular hangouts such as Cahaba Brewing Company, The Collins Bar and Avondale Brewing Company. Next up? Nov. 3, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Good People Brewing Company.
From opera novices to longtime aficionados, bar patrons have heard opera in a jazz-club, set list-type setting at Opera Shots events.
“We’ll do three sets in two hours, about 25 minutes each, with singers doing arias, choruses and duets,” said Wolfe, who joined the company in January.
